Dog Days of Summer

Here is what we've been up to lately:

Last weekend we went to St. George with Tan's family, and my parents were nice enough to let us stay at their condo.  We originally planned this trip with the idea that we would go to Tuacahn, since neither of us have been before.  As the trip got closer, we started getting nervous about buying tickets because we are broke.  On the way down, I got a call and was offered a job I applied for (more on that later).  We could breathe a little easier knowing some money was on the way (even though Tuacahn was sold out).  We swam, went on a shopping spree for work clothes for the both of us, ate out, went to Captain America and Cowboys and Aliens, and played lots of games and Wii.  It was a nice last hurrah before we get tied down to our jobs!

Here are some pool pics

 

Tanya's brother Court turned 17 on Monday.  He's growing up so fast!  We love spending time with him, he's sassy and cynical like us, and loves to party.  

 

Our niece and nephew (hereafter known as "the nuggets") are still in town and we love it!  They are darls X 2.

 

My job!  I have been applying and interviewing for jobs like crazy since before we even moved home.  I always thought my interviews went well, but I was also competing against 10-20 + people for every job I interviewed for.  To add to that, I was not happy with the salary that many jobs were offering (welcome to Utah) and I let everyone know up front what salary I was expecting.

I was starting to get nervous as August was approaching, and I still didn't have any offers.  Finally one job came along that I was excited about.  They gave me a writing assignment to perform before my interview, and they loved my work.  I interviewed, and it felt right.  The only problem = the company is in Lindon (almost to Orem).  Ugg.  I hated commuting to my job in Hawaii.  During the interview, they told me that they are moving to a brand new building in December at Thanksgiving Pointe.  Problem solved!  They called me on my way to St. George and offered me the job, at the salary I wanted!

The company is

 

I am working in the marketing department doing social media and online marketing as well as copy writing.  Today was my first day and so far so good.  This is a cool company and I already love my job.  They gave me a new giant Mac with Adobe Creative Suite to use, I get to help re-brand the company and all the products, and the people seem cool.  I think it was worth the wait.  

 

Tanya also started training this week for her job.  She's learning a lot, getting to know the people she'll be working with, and is excited to start teaching.  School starts August 29th for her and she's teaching Health and P.E., grades 7-10.  Unlike the other teachers, she gets to wear comfy gym clothes to work every day!

With both of us starting our jobs this week, we knew we needed a 2nd car.  Car shopping SUCKS!  We didn't have any idea what we would end up with.  Tanya loves Kia Souls, but we have both always wanted a Honda Element.  They are so cool inside and out.  They are fun to drive and, well, it's a Honda.  After lots of talking each other into it and pumping ourselves up, we bought our dream car!  We are in love and she is our baby.  Tan named her Ellie the Element.  (FYI we named our other car, it's Oscar the Optima)  

 

We have been feeling weird this Summer because we created an amazing life for ourselves in Hawaii, and feel like we were ripped away from it too soon.  Now that things are starting to come together, we feel a little more like ourselves.